What it is
Movies in the dark. The TV will be used for watching movies in a controlled environment, directly in front, in a home theater way. Mostly only high quality content, like Blu-rays, UHD Blu-rays, streaming and a little bit of HDR.

What it is
TV Shows in a bright living room. The TV will be used in to watch TV shows, in a bright room during the day, from multiple viewing positions at different angles. The content watched has an average quality: cable, streaming, SD channels, etc.

What it is
Video games. The TV will be used to play video games, directly in front, in a controlled light environment. Usually fast games, like online FPS, where motion blur and input lag is important.

What it is
HDR Gaming. The TV will be used to play HDR video games using consoles that support it or on current generation gaming PCs. Xbox One S, PS4 Pro, GTX 10 series and AMD RX series graphics cards.

The TCL FS3800 Series 1080p LED is a basic TV with an average picture quality. It cannot get very bright, has average screen uniformity and the motion could be better. When viewed from the side, its picture also degrades quickly. The Roku smart features are great though.

The picture quality of the FS3800 is average. The TV does not support HDR. There are very limited options to adjust the color settings on the FS3800, however the out-of-box colors should be fine for most people. Lower quality sources such as DVDs and cable TV perform well. It cannot get very bright to deal with ambient light or to distinguish highlights. The picture quality degrades significantly even when viewed from a slight angle.

Good value:
Full-array/direct lighting is better for local dimming. As for the uniformity of the screen, it depends on the implementation. Some edge-lit TVs have more uniform blacks than some full-array TVs.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity the TV can obtain while playing a movie or while watching a TV show. This scene was selected to represent a more regular movie condition. All measurement are made with the TV set to be as bright as possible, but with a 6500k white. Measured with local dimming, max backlight and over SDR signal. Scene: here.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright highlights, present on screen for a short time; especially for SDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright objects, present on screen for a short time; especially for SDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright highlights, persistent throughout a scene; especially for SDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright objects, persistent throughout a scene; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity the TV can obtain while playing a movie or while watching a TV show. This scene was selected to represent a more realistic movie condition. All measurement are made with the TV set to be as bright as possible, but with a 6500k white. Measured with local dimming, max backlight and over HDR signal. Scene: here.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright highlights, present on screen for a short time; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright objects, present on screen for a short time; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright highlights, persistent throughout a scene; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright objects, persistent throughout a scene; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

The gray uniformity is about average, however the edges of the screen are noticeably darker with some faint banding present. The dirty screen effect will be slightly visible when panning across a sports field.

Out of the box, the white balance dE is high and the colors are off, this shouldn't be a problem for most people as you will most likely not notice the issues. Thankfully, the gamma doesn't have too many issues.

Just like the TCL FS3750, it doesn't have any calibration settings to play with. You can't adjust them at all with the handheld Roku application unlike the TCL US5800. For this reason, the pre-calibration is identical to the post-calibration.

Motion

The TCL FS3800 is average at handling fast moving objects, with a faint amount of motion blur that would be visible. There is no judder when watching movies via blu-ray or DVDs, but may be when playing movies via a set top box. There are no motion interpolation features.

There are a few issues with the response time of this TV. The transition from 0% to 100% takes about 65 ms, and there is overshoot present in all transitions. Thankfully, the trail behind the motion blur logo isn't too long and is faint. The backlight of the TV is flicker free.

Inputs

The input lag is quite low, which is good. It does not support a wide range of signals due to the limited frame rate of up to 60Hz and lack of support for full color information. When viewing documents or web pages the text is not as defined as it could be.

Sound Quality

The sound of the TCL FS3800 is terrible, much worse than on most TVs. It lacks bass and max volume is still fairly low. Distortion is also omnipresent. Any budget sound bar would be an improvement over the the TV speakers.

Note: Sound Quality test for TVs reviewed before 2017 was performed at 75dB, 85dB, and Max SPL. Starting 2017, the target SPL levels have been changed to 70dB, 80dB, and Max dB SPL.

Poor distortion performance. The overall amount of harmonic distortion is decent at low listening volumes, however, there is a noticeable rise in distortion at moderate and especially loud listening volumes.

Smart Features

The TCL FS3800 offers a genuine smart interface. It's integration with Roku will allow the user to have access to an endless supply of applications, and to a very reliable smart platform that will be frequently updated. The interface was also quick and responsive. In terms of inputs, the TV offers a reasonable amount of ports, which will be great to plug all your devices in, it also offers USB 3.0 that will have faster transfer speeds for those who plan on plugging a hard drive to the TV.

Apps

There is an endless supply of applications on the Roku smart interface. Since Roku is so highly supported you can expect more applications to come to the interface as well as frequent updates that will fix bugs and performance tuning.

Controls on the TV are hidden behind the television near the left stand. They can be hard to access if the TV is wall mounted.

Remote

Remote
:
Basic

The remote for the television feels comfortable in the hand. It is easy to navigate through menus with the remote and it has four quick access buttons dedicated to 'Netflix', 'Amazon', 'Radio' and 'Vudu'.

In The Box

Manual

Remote

Batteries

Misc

Power Consumption
:
33 W

Power Consumption (Max)
:
65 W

Firmware
:
7.1.0

Differences between Sizes and Variants

We tested the 40" (40FS3800). For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 50" (50FS3800). The 32 inch version (32S3800) has a 720p resolution.

If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their TCL FS3800 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review.

The Vizio D 1080p is a better TV for high quality content (1080p). Sports and video games are notably better on the Vizio D 1080p 2016. It isn't better when it comes to lower quality content like cable TV and DVDs though.

What it is
Movies in the dark. The TV will be used for watching movies in a controlled environment, directly in front, in a home theater way. Mostly only high quality content, like Blu-rays, UHD Blu-rays, streaming and a little bit of HDR.

What it is
TV Shows in a bright living room. The TV will be used in to watch TV shows, in a bright room during the day, from multiple viewing positions at different angles. The content watched has an average quality: cable, streaming, SD channels, etc.

Average TV for watching in a bright living room. Can't get bright to overcome reflections. Upscaling of low quality content is good. Built in smart OS is great for casual viewing. Unfortunately picture quality degrades significant when viewed at an angle.

What it is
Video games. The TV will be used to play video games, directly in front, in a controlled light environment. Usually fast games, like online FPS, where motion blur and input lag is important.

If you had to pick between this TV and the Samsung J6200 for a relatively dark lit college dorm room, which one would it be and why? Is the 720 input a noticeable difference between the two? Does anything else jump out at you between the two? I'm wondering if the Samsung is worth getting for the extra 100 dollars it would cost in comparison to this TV. Also, could you discuss the durability of the two TVs if you have any knowledge on this topic? Thank you.

If you have a wide seating arrangement go with the J6200, otherwise save the money and get the FS3800. The picture quality of both TVs is extremely similar, but the FS3800's picture quality degrades more rapidly when viewed from an angle. For watching lower quality content, the FS3800 is slightly better but this may not be noticeable when watching normal content. The J6200 does handle fast motion slightly better (less motion blur) but the FS3800 is still good. The input lag of the TCL is also slightly better for video games, and the smart interface allows more flexibility. Note that the 32" FS3800 is 720p, so the larger sizes are a better pick. We don't have information about the durability of the TVs, but don't think there are significant differences.